The present invention relates to a brush assembly for cleaning pans used in bakeries, and more particularly, to a self-cleaning brush assembly that cleans selected outer surfaces of the pans by intermittent, brush contact.
Cleaning apparatuses for cleaning pans such as bakery cake pans with a rotating brush that further reciprocates the brush bristles up and down transversely to surfaces of the pan to insure a vigorous scrubbing action have been advanced. Such brushes are used commonly to scrub the baking pan in order to loosen seeds, crust, and other material before new cake material is placed into the pan. My own U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,999,238 issued Dec. 28, 1976 and 4,403,365 issued Sep. 13, 1983 each disclose a pan cleaning apparatus. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,999,238, a reciprocating brush is oscillated back and forth to get into the corners of the pans, while a separate rotating brush is operated in a conventional manner to contact and clean major planar surfaces of the pans. U.S. Pat. No. 4,403,365 discloses a brush assembly that is mounted above a conveyor carrying the pans, and includes bristles that rotate about axes oblique with respect to the direction of travel of the pans and generally parallel to the plane of movement of the pans. The brush assembly further oscillates up and down as it rotates so that the brush tips tend to be repeatedly forced longitudinally into the corners of the pans to loosen material left in those corners. Rotation of the brush further effectuates cleaning of the pan.